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This is the first post in a three part series about the Apple Watch, and why Steve Jobs would have done it differently.

The Apple Watch is something I’ve been anticipating — Apple is the undisputed opinion leader of the gadget industry and their entry legitimizes this nascent category. So I want to give it proper time and context, even if the first smartwatch I buy will probably be the Moto 360.

And yes, I do believe this is not the watch Steve Jobs would have designed – that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I’ll begin with something neutral Steve Jobs would have disapproved for his Apple Watch: two buttons.

Facebook is in the press lately because the company is forcing users to communicate with friends through a separate Messenger app instead of the main Facebook app. The former is #1 on the app store but people are rebelling by slamming it with 1-star reviews. Privacy is also a common rallying cry, the accusation being that the app is too aggressive with permissions.

Nobody likes to be forced to do anything, so it’s not surprising to see people react negatively. Many are still wary about online privacy, even as it is an increasingly illusory concept.

We think those knee jerk reactions are overblown. Facebook Messenger is a decent product and it’s no more aggressive in its privacy policies as other messaging apps.

Instagram is testing their new app Bolt in Singapore, New Zealand and South Africa for iOS and Android, and I got my grubby hands on it. Bolt is one-tap photo messaging, like a simpler Snapchat. And you know what…I kinda like it, though I don’t know how defensible it would be as a business.

It’s attractive and single-minded. There’s no confusion to the app’s purpose. One tap to send a photo or video might not seem much different than say, Snapchat’s three taps, but surprisingly it’s increased the number of messages I usually send. Maybe that’s because testing Bolt is top-of-mind, but I don’t think so.

One tap messaging feels so effortless — it’s easier than typing a text and yet can say so much more. Sending dozens of photos and videos throughout the day to let someone know how things are going doesn’t feel like work. With Bolt, it feels natural.

Yesterday, Path launched version 4.0 of its app. Version 4 is an incremental improvement over version 3 and there is now a new standalone messaging app.

Path is supposedly doing alright, growing from 1.5 million DAUs at the beginning of the year to 4 million. A TechCrunch article further states that:

Southeast Asia is now its biggest market, with the U.S. coming second, but Path is also seeing some user growth from the Middle East.

While TechCrunch will readily accept Path implying it’s popular in South East Asia, data from App Annie shows that it’s really just Indonesia.

I spoke to a couple of friends in Indonesia on why they use Path. The country has distinct characteristics that make Path a useful product there — perhaps uniquely — but that usefulness isn’t in messaging as the company believes.

It would be a mistake for Path to extrapolate too much from Indonesia into a company-wide bet. Though I suppose they have to go somewhere.